USA: Muslims Or Middle East People Think They Are Segregated When It Comes To Flying

The removal of a 26-year-old Arabic-speaking college student from a Southwest Airlines flight is the latest high-profile incident — and second involving Southwest recently — of Muslims or people of Middle Eastern descent being prevented from flying in the U.S.

While the case of Khairuldeen Makhzoomi’s removal from an April 6 flight has some unique circumstances — the woman who reported concerns of a potential threat to the Southwest crew also spoke Arabic — some see it as a continuing trend of racial profiling at airports that targets those “flying while Muslim.”

Airlines have uniformly denied that discrimination or bias factor into their decisions to remove passengers from planes, but federal restrictions on sensitive safety information prevents them from detailing the thought process or procedures leading up to the removals.

“We would not remove a passenger from a flight without a collaborative decision rooted in established procedures,” Southwest said in a statement regarding Makhzoomi’s case. “Southwest neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind.”

After being interviewed by law enforcement, Makhzoomi’s ticket was refunded and he completed his trip from Los Angeles to Oakland on Delta Air Lines. A Los Angeles World Airports police spokesman said Tuesday the statement Makhzoomi made in Arabic during a phone call with his uncle “was not illegal, there was nothing that involved threats.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has tallied at least six incidents of Muslims being removed from flights since the start of 2016 and has had more than 15 similar cases referred to the organization dating back to 2013.

“We are concerned that Muslims are facing more and more scrutiny and baseless harassment when they are attempting to travel,” ZahraBilloo, executive director of CAIR’s San Francisco-area office, said over the weekend.

Airlines have the discretion to remove passengers from flights for unruly behavior or safety concerns — there were 82 reported incidents involving “unruly passengers” in 2015, according to Federal Aviation Administration data — but in many cases involving Muslim passengers a lack of details makes it difficult to pinpoint what exactly led to their removal from a plane.

Here’s a look at the circumstances involving five recent cases that have caught media attention:

Hakima Abdulle, a Maryland woman of Somali descent, was removed from a Southwest flight in Chicago last week after asking another passenger to switch seats. Southwest does not assign passenger seats. Abdulle, who was wearing a hijab, reported that after exiting the plane a flight attendant said she didn’t “feel comfortable” with her as a passenger. Abdulle was rebooked on a later flight to her destination.

An Arab-American family that included three children were removed from a United Airlines flight out of Chicago on March 20. According to CAIR and media reports, the family was asked to leave the plane after a discussion about a safety strap for one of their children’s booster seats. The family was rebooked on a later flight and United said in a statement they were removed over concerns the booster seat did not comply with federal safety regulations.

A Spirit Airlines plane in Baltimore diverted from takeoff and four passengers were removed in November after a passenger alerted a flight attendant about concerns of “suspicious activity.” One of the men removed from the plane appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent and was watching a news video on his phone, according to news reports. None of the removed passengers was arrested and Spirit said the plane returned to the gate “out of an abundance of caution.”

Southwest had two separate incidents on the same day in November where passengers ran into problems boarding a plane. In Chicago, two men of Palestinian-descent were asked to “step aside” during the boarding process, allegedly because a passenger was afraid to fly with them after overhearing a conversation in Arabic. One of the men called 911 and the pair was eventually allowed to board the flight.

That same night, six men of Middle Eastern descent were removed from a flight from Chicago to Houston. Passengers reported the men were attempting to switch seats to sit next to each other and Southwest said the men were removed after refusing to follow crew members’ instructions. The men were rebooked on a later flight.